COVID-19: April 9 Update from Haley Ballast, Race & Equity Task Force
Seattle Presbytery
A reflection by Haley Ballast, SeaPres Race and Equity Task Force:
Exposed.
During a pandemic, that is a frightening word. No one wants to be exposed to the virus that has taken so many lives and brought whole nations to a standstill. But as hospitals fill and businesses close, I keep wondering... what else is being exposed by this global crisis? When so much is stripped away, what is revealed to us about our world, ourselves, and our faith?
As statistics roll in from cities across the US, the failures and systemic injustices of many of our institutions are exposed and laid bare. In Chicago, African Americans make up about a third of the population, but account for 50% of infections and 72% of virus-related deaths. Similar numbers have been reported for Michigan, Louisiana, and South Carolina. Racial disparities in healthcare are nothing new, but rarely have they been exposed so starkly.
Alongside revelations that devastate are others that offer profound hope. What is being exposed about our capacity to embrace a completely new and unprecedented way of life for the sake of our neighbors and communities? Any experienced leader knows that transformational change takes time. And yet, this season of dizzyingly rapid change has exposed our capacity to make massive shifts together in a matter of days, if not hours. Our creativity, flexibility, and ability to innovate is far beyond what we imagined.
While we cannot afford to ignore the foundational cracks the virus has exposed in our society, we also cannot afford to miss the possibilities for transformation. During this Holy Week we walk with Jesus toward the cross, where the religious and political institutions of the Roman Empire are exposed for what they are - violent, oppressive, and profane. We walk into the darkness of death and the silence of the grave. And together we follow Christ into resurrection - the ultimate transformation which empowers and exposes a new kind of life we are invited to share, centered on the abundant and death-defying love of God in Christ.
Haley Ballast
SeaPres Race & Equity Task Force
Listen to Tali Hairston’s conversation with Haley in SeaPres Podcast episode 4: Hard to Hear